Central region pledges preschool access for all

A J'rai ethic minority man hands his daughter to a kindergarten teacher in Central Highlands Gia Lai Province. The region aims to provide preschool education to all five-year-old children by 2020. — VNA/VNS Photo Duong Giang

DAK LAK (VNS) — The Central Highlands region and neighbouring mountainous districts have set their sights on providing preschool education to all five-year-old children by 2020.

They plan to have 10-12 percent of children between 0 and 2 years old in nursery school and 85-90 percent of those between 3 and 5 years old in kindergarten within the next five years.

About 25-30 percent of the kindergartens in the targeted areas are expected to meet national standards by 2020, according to a meeting on education, training and vocational training development in Dak Lak Province yesterday.

Participants at the event - including those from the Central Highlands Steering Committee, the Ministry of Education and Training, and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs - advocated for the establishment of new kindergartens.

They also asked the Government to consider prioritizing the target region. The target region needs to expand the number of beneficiaries receiving free lunch and tuition-fee reductions or exemptions. Plus, the target region needs to provide study expenses for children aged 3-5 from poor families and disadvantaged areas.

Meanwhile, the rate of children attending primary schools in the target region is estimated at 99 percent. While attendance figures at junior high schools and senior high schools is at 88-90 percent and 80 percent, respectively.

The target localities will align local vocational training with the national manpower development plan. The goal is for 13-15 percent of local junior high school graduates to enroll in vocational training courses.

The region will have 15 universities and junior colleges by 2020, raising the number of undergraduates per 10,000 people to between 235 to 240.

According to Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thi Nghia, the Central Highlands region and neighbouring mountainous districts have reached key related targets set for 2011 to 2015.

The rate of children aged 3-5 admitted to kindergartens is about 80 percent. 98 percent of those eligible attend primary schools.

All districts that are home to large numbers of ethnic minority people have boarding schools for ethnic students.

The number of undergraduates per 10,000 people now stands at 230, she added.

The Central Highlands region, comprising the provinces of Dak Lak, Kon Tum, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, and Lam Dong and a total area of over 54,600 square kilometres, is home to about 5.5 million people. Ethnic minorities account for 35 percent of the region's population. — VNS